A Hat for Miles

With the weather getting colder I started pulling out winter hats for Miles to wear.  The one I

made for Joe when he was a baby was just a little too small so I decided to refresh my

knitting skills and make Miles his very own hat.  I found a pattern where I was able to try

bringing in a 2nd color yarn to my project.  For my first time, I'd say it turned out pretty well.

And more importantly, Miles seems to think so too. :)

5 Months Old

Time is cruising right along and Miles is 5 months old!!

Growth Stats

Weight - 15 lbs 1 oz (20th Percentile)

Height - 25.5 in (29th Percentile)

It's funny because it feels like time is flying by, but at the same time it seems like so long
ago that we brought Miles home from the hospital.  He is the happiest little baby and has
been the best addition to our family that I could have ever hoped for.  He's cute, sweet,
happy, content, low maintenance, and makes our lives brighter.  He has the most amazing
big, gummy grin that can light up a room and cheer up even the most sour of moods.

He's growing more and more every day and is learning new tricks.  His core muscles are
really strong so we're working on sitting up on his own (with the help of the Boppy).  He also
loves his jumperoo and has started bouncing up and down in it which is always comical to
watch.  Every day we work a little more on his tummy time.  He is not a fan and gets pretty
frustrated, but we keep trying.  He rolls from side to side and has rolled over a couple times,
but I think more on accident than anything.  Nothing really consistent yet.  Most of the time
when he tries to roll he can't figure out what to do with his arm.  It sticks straight out to the
side and blocks him from rolling that direction.  I prop him up with it in front of him, or I'll put
it up near his head and try to help him with the motion.  One of these days he'll get it.  But
until them I'm in no rush.  I'm happy with him going at his own pace.  No need to rush
any of these baby moments.  I'm savoring them all! 

 The one thing I wouldn't mind if we sped through was the waking up in the middle of the
night.  He's started going to bed around 7:00PM.  He's exhausted by then and it's normally
when he needs to eat, so it makes sense.  The only problem is he wakes again around
11:30PM, and then again at 4:00AM.  It's tough because normally I've just gone to bed and
then he's up ready to eat.  Waking up an hour after falling asleep, getting out of a nice warm
bed only to go sit in his cold room to feed him is torture!  The house always feels so much
colder in the winter.  I have a blanket in there now so I can at least wrap myself in it to stay
warm, but it's still so much more difficult to get out of bed.  Hopefully he grows out of this
soon and we can drop down to only one time per night.  That would be a game changer.

The boys continue to be enamored with their little brother.  They run upstairs as soon as
they know Miles is awake in the morning and peer down into his crib at him hoping for one
of his big smiles to greet them.  Whenever he is laying on his play mat or in his jumperoo,
they are nearby trying to entertain him or make him smile.  They insist on baby hugs and
kisses before bed, and are sad if Miles has gone to sleep before they can get them. 
They love him so much!!  He is truly the perfect addition to our family

Waterpark: Thanksgiving Edition

When we were in WI last month for Joe's birthday, our trip to the waterpark was cut short by

an untimely bathroom incident in the water.  Simply put...someone pooped in the pool.

Thankfully it wasn't any of my kids.  Everyone had to get out of the pool and they shut the

waterpark down for the night.  It was a bummer at the time, but we all got free passes to

come back which brings us to our Waterpark adventure: Thanksgiving edition.

Believe it or not, the matching swimsuits are by accident.  Sarah, Hannah and I all managed

to pick out nearly the same suit at Target.  I think it's safe to say we like stripes.

 Joe is at the point where he still needs to stay close to Ryan or I,

but Owen can run around with the big boys and he LOVES it!!

 They would stand under the huge bucket of water waiting for it to splash down on them.

When it finally started to tip, Owen would lay down face first and let the water drench him.

Then as soon as it was over he and Aiden would run back up to go down a slide and

somehow make it back just in time for the bucket to spill again.  Needless to say,

he had no problem going to bed tonight.

Thankful Trees

I've started the annual tradition of making Thankful Trees with the boys at Thanksgiving.

Here are this year's creations.

What's funny is my mom has us all do a version of the thankful tree at her house too.  She

has a paper turkey that she hangs on the wall, then various colored post-its that we write

what we're thankful for on and post them next to the turkey.  After we had all put ours up

Sarah brought up a very interesting point.  She said, if you woke up tomorrow and

all you had were the things you wrote on those post-its, would you be happy?

I read through my post-its and saw the following:

Ryan, my family, three healthy boys, my health, Mountain Dew and Starbucks, Hawaiian

rolls and cheese, new friends and old ones too, and naps (especially the trifecta when all

three boys nap at once).....Yep, I think I'd be pretty happy!! :)

Happy Thanksgiving!!

This year we drove to Wausau for Thanksgiving.  We left right after we picked up Owen

from school on Tuesday.  I love being able to spend time with my family,

so the more time we can be there, the better.

Thanksgiving day was pretty low key.  The boys woke up bright and early so we went to Starbucks and met my dad for coffee.  The perfect start to the day.

Then, one of my all-time favorite parts of Thanksgiving is sitting down with the big, Black

Friday ad stuffed newspaper and seeing all the deals that are out.  Yes I realize all of the

stores have started publishing the deals days before the sales these days, but I prefer

sitting down with a pad of paper and all of the hard copies of the ads and making a list of

everything I need (or want - after all, who really needs a Mickey Mouse waffle maker).  This

year was no different.  Ryan got us stocked up with McDonald's fries and cheese curds

(another story in and of itself), a Big Buddy Mountain Dew from Kwik Trip, and we were on

our way!  It doesn't get much better than this.  When I think of Thanksgiving Day, this is

what it looks like to me.  Or at least a memorable part of it.

Once we had our Black Friday plan in place it was time for dinner.  The funny thing about

Thanksgiving dinner is I actually don't even eat the turkey.  It's not that I don't like it, but my

mom makes the most delicious sides that I would much rather eat as much as I can of them.

Layered jello salad, mandarin orange salad, taffy apple salad, stuffing, mashed potatoes,

green bean casserole...the list goes on.  And what's better is she always prepares enough

food to feed an army, so I can eat it all weekend!

And when we've stuffed ourselves silly we move on to our next

Thanksgiving tradition...Bowling!! 

It's a great way to move around after being so full and the kids love it!

They look forward to it every year.  

We have so much to be thankful for,

but the thing I am most thankful for is my family and special times like these!